Self-lifting flatiron



g- 17, 1965 K. o. WHITFIELD 3,200,521

SELF-LIFTING FLATIRON Filed May 5, 1964 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR KENNETH O. WHITFIELD ATTORNEY Aug. 17, 1965 K. o. WHITFIELD 3,200,521

SELF-LIFTING FLATIRON Filed May 5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F'ICB. IO

/ INVENTOR.

KENNETH O. WHITFIELD JM W A TTOR/VE V United States Patent 3,2511521 SELF-LIFTING FLATIRGN Kenneth 0. Whitfield, 175 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ.

Filed May 1964, Ser. No. 364,929 13 Claims. (til. 38-79) This invention relates to devices for causing fiatirons to tilt away from supporting surfaces whenever they are left unattended.

An object of my invention is to provide an auxiliary electrical circuit in a flatiron of the tilt-up type which causes an automatic actuation of the til -up mechanism whenever a user of the iron leaves it for more than a very short period of time, to thereby avoid scorching of material therebeneath.

Another object of my invention is to provide a flatiron with a handle a part of which, when an operator leaves the iron, is spring-released to close a circuit which automatically effects a tilting of the iron olf the board to avoid damage to anything that the iron may rest upon.

A further object of my invention is to provide an iron that is fully automatic in that, if manual pressure on the handle is released, a switch is caused to close and activate a resistor which heats a thermo-sensitive element and triggers mechanism to cause the iron to tilt away from the board.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the drawings are for the purposes of illustration and do not define the scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters dcnote like parts in the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an electric fiatiron showing a portion thereof in section in order to illustrate the mechanism provided by the invention for effecting an automatic tilt-up of the iron when left onattended, the parts being in the position before such a tilt-up but after the actuating switch has been released to initiate a raising of the iron oif the board.

FIGURE 2 is a view corresponding to FIGURE '1, but showing the iron in tilted or lifted position, with the operating parts disposed accordingly.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the handle of the iron of FIGURE 1 showing the parts in the position where an operator has grasped the handle and thereby returned the switch to open position after the iron has been pushed back to its operative position.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view showing in perspective the main parts of the lifting mechanism.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the latch means for the lifting mechanism.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the latch biasing spring of the mechanism.

FIGURE 7 is a view in perspective of the frame carried by the handle and in which the latch means is slidable and the spring housed.

FIGURE 8 is an exploded view of the heat-sensitive element assembled with the heating element and the connector between the upper end portion of the latch means and the upper end portion of the heat-sensitive element actuator separated from the latter.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the clamp which is to hold the heat-sensitive element in place on the frame of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 10 is an axial sectional view of the assembled heat-sensitive element and heating element, with the latter shown in side elevation.

FIGURE 11 is a wiring diagram.

Flatirons have been developed and provided with triggers which an operator may trip to cause them to assume raised or tilted positions, that is, with the heated portion disposed above the ironing board to avoid damage to material that was being smoothed. Such irons, however, are not fool-proof, in that the operator may forget to trip the mechanism and leave the iron down on the goods with a resultant overheating thereof. In accordance with my invention, such an oversight is obviated by providing for the automatic tripping of the lifting or tilting mechanism by heat-sensitive means controlled electrically, so that damage to an ironing board or goods thereon is obviated.

In my Patent No. 3,050,885, dated August 28, 1962, I described and claimed such an iron, in which the heatsensitive element was a bi-metalic strip housed in the forward portion of a hollow handle thereof. Such an iron is effective for the purpose, but the present invention involves an improvement in that the heat-sensitive element is more rugged than the bi-metallic element of the patent referred to and there is no need for making the handle of the iron hollow to as great an extent when using the mechanism of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the flatiron 'of my present invention comprises a body 21 with a handle 22 fixedly secured thereto. The handle 22. is at least partially hollow to accommodate the parts of the safety device to be described. The body 21 has the usual sole plate 23 and cover '24 which latter in the present instance extends to the rear beyond the sole plate to provide an upwardly-opening hood 25. A supporting plate 26 is secured to the hood 25 at the rear of the sole plate and has upwardly-extending ears 27 for supporting a transverse pin 28. An iron-supporting member or lifting device 29 is pivotally carried on the pin 28.

The supporting member 29 has forwardly extending feet 30 which project longitudinally of the iron and are normally disposed within recesses 31 in the body 21, as shown in FIGURE 1. The lifting means or supporting member 29 also carries a pair of arms 32 (FIG. 4) which extend inwardly of the handle 22 of the iron and carry adjacent their upper inner ends a rod, desirably mounted as a roller 33. A cross bar 34 extends between and connects the arms 32, receiving a screw 35 on which there is a nut 35. The nut 36 is connected to the upper end of a heavy coil spring 37. The lower end of said spring is secured to a lug 38 on the plate 26. At the rear of the handle 22 there is a closure plate 3% which is removable to afford access to the screw 35 for turning to adjust it with respect to the nut 36 and thereby vary the normal tension on the spring 37.

When the supporting member 29 is in its inoperative position, as shown in FIGURE 1, the spring 3'7 is under tension so that it tends to rotate said supporting member in a clockwise direction relative to the iron as viewed in said figure. In other words, the spring 37 urges the supporting member to operative or iron-raising or tilting position, as shown in FIGURE 2, but said member is normally held in its inoperative position against the action of such spring by latching mechanism now to be described.

There is housed in the handle 22 and rigidly secured to a Wall portion thereof, a bracket 41 shaped as shown most clearly in FIGURE 7. The bracket 41 may be held in place by means of screws or the like 42 which specifically hold a flanged portion 4-3 thereof against the adjacent wall portion 44 of the handle 22. The body of the heat-sensitive element 45 is fitted in a notch 46 in the bracket 41 and held 'in place by suitable means, such as a clamp 47. Said clamp partially encircles and element 4-5 is a heating element 49. The heating element may comprise one or more electrical resistors 51, in this instance two of 1000 ohms each, connected in series and adapted to beenergized from the sources of electrical power 52 which energizes the heating element 53 for the body 21 of the iron. Said resistors, however, are controlled by an electrical switch St in a circuit which is in parallel with the circuit through the heating element 53, as shown most clearly in FIGURE .11.

The details of the heat-sensitive element 45 may be as shown in FIGURE 10, although I do not wish to be limited to this, as other heat-sensitive elements for efiecting a movement of the upper desirably metal actuating portion 54 of the element 45 may beemployed. In the present instance, however, the heat-sensitive element may be of the Dole thermostat type such as employed for controlling the circulation of water in automobile radiators. It is here shown as comprising a cup-shaped member 55 of copper or the like, housing some highly expansible plastic material 56 and connected to the upper portion 57 of the element 45 by suitable means such as a band Edwith flanges 59 and 61 respectively engaging a bottom flange on the element 57 and a top flange of the cup 55.

The upper end portion of the member 54 is desirably of reduced section, indicated at 64, and fits an aperture 65 in a connector 66. The upper end of said connector 66 has a transverse aperture 67 receiving the reduced end portion 68 on the angular upper end portion 69 of latch means 71.

The latch means 71 has its main or normally generally upright portion slidable in receiving apertures 72 and 73 in the bracket 41. It is biased in a downward direction by compression spring 74 surrounding it, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, with its lower end engaging a cotter pin or other'such member 75 received in a transverse aperture 76 in said latch means and its upper end engaging the upper wall portion 77 of the bracket 41. The lower end of the latch means 71 is desirably beveled or flattened, as indicated at 78, and adapted to normally engage the roller 33:, as shown in FIGURE 1,

to thereby hold the lifting means in its retracted position where it allows the iron to lie fiat on its board over any material on said board.

The heat-sensitive element 45 is operated for eitecting release of the latch means 71 from the roller 33 by heat from the electrical resistor or resistors 51 in the circuit shown in FIGURE 11. In this same circuit. is apreferably mercury switch 50, that is, one which is open when in a substantially horizontal position, or tilted down slightly but sufficiently toward the left so that the enclosed mercury does not bridge the electrodes thereof, as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3, and in full lines in FIG- URE 11, but closed when tilted in only one direction, that is clockwise or down toward the right, so that the mercury flows to bridge said electrodes, or to the position illustrated in the FIGURE 1 and in dotted lines in FIG- URE 11, but closed when tilted in only one direction, of course, that adapted for such a purpose whereby, during ironing, the mercury does not bridge the switch contacts, unless the iron is tilted forward through a substantial an gle.

The switch St) is resiliently mounted, as on a flat leaf spring 81 disposed inside the handle 22. The lower end portion of the spring is secured to the handle as by rivets. or the like 552. The spring 81 may carry the switch 50 in any suitable manner, as by a band portion 83 encircling the same and connected to said spring by suitable means, such as a rivet 84. Fixedly mounted in any suitable manner on the upper portion of the spring 81 and covering the same is a top element 85 of the handle 22. This element 35 has a depending portion as closing and slidable' in an opening 87 in the top wall of the handle. It'is provided with longitudinal projectie-us 7? and it which. normally act as stops, limiting outward or upward movement of said element 35;.

When a user grasps the handle portionZZ, the part 85 is naturally pressed down to the position of FIGURE 3. When the iron is left unattended, the spring 81. raises the top element 85 and the switch 59 carried thereby to the position illustrated in FIGURE 1. Such movement effects a tilting of the switch 50 through an angle designated a in FIGURE 11, therebyibridging the electrodes thereof by the switch-enclosed mercury which flows from left to right, completing a circuit through the heating element, or resistors, 51. This supplies sun'icient heat to raise the temperature of the heat-sensitive element 4-5 enough to expand the material 56 therein to effect sufiicient movement of the latch member 71 upward to slide oit and release the roller 33, thereby allowing the spring 37 to move the member 29 and eifect tilting of the iron through an angle designated 5 to the position of FIG- URE 2.

Thus, when the flatiron is being used, the parts are disposed as illustrated in FIGURE, 3, the top element 85 being held down so that the mercury switch St? is open or in the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 11. The latch means 71 is then held in the position shown in FIGURE 1, thereby locking the lifting means 29 in inoperative. position so that the iron liesvflat on its board or other support.

When use of the flatiron is discontinued and the operator removes her hand from the grip portion 22, the top element 85 rises by virtue of its spring 81 flexing upwardly until it reaches the position shown in FIGURE 1. There the switch 5% has been tilted from the full line to the dotted line position of FIGURE 11, thereby causing the circuit through the resistors 51 to be closed because of the mercury bridging the gap between the electrodes and causing said coils 51 to heat.

This swinging movement of the switch 59 is through an angle designated a in FIGURE 11. The raising of the temperature of the resistors 51. causes heating of the plastic expansible material 56 in the supporting cup 55, thereby effecting expansion thereof and upward movement of the engaged rubber element 62. This in turn. transfers motion to the actuator portion 54, movable in the axial opening 63 of the upper portion 57 of the heat-sensitive element 45.

This upward movement is transmitted through the connector 66 to the attached latch means 71, pushing said latch means upward against the resistance of its biasing spring 74 andfinally removing the lower end portion thereoffrom engagement with the roller 33 of the ironsupporting member 29. The latter is then released to snap away from the body portion 24 of the iron to the position of FIGURE 2, effecting at raising and tilting of the iron through the angle ,8 as shown in FIGURE 2. At such time the iron is completely removed from the ironing surface and supported entirely by the legs 30 of the member 29.

During the tilting movement of the iron, which tilting movement is effected by. the spring 37 after release, the roller 33 moves away fr-om'the latch member 71 so that instead of'lying to the left of it, as viewed in FIGURE 1, it now lies to the right and below the lower end of said latch member as viewed in FIGURE 2. The tilt ing of the iron through the angle ,8 nullifies the effect of tilting the switch. through the angle a so that the switch is moved back from the dotted line position shown in FEGURE 11 to the full line position shown in said figure, where the circuit is broken through the heating element 49, thereby allowing said element to cool and be ready for a resumption of the operation.

In order that the tilting of the iron through the angle ,8 may nullify the effect of former tilting of the switch through the angle 0:, these two angles should be equal or nearly equal so that the tilting through such an angle first closes and then the opposite tilting through a similar angle opens the switch 50, by first causing the mercury to bridge the electrodes and then causing said mercury to be removed from said electrodes. Of course manual tilting of the iron in a counterclockwise direction from the position of FIGURE 1, or standing it on its end so that it points upward, will also effect an opening of the switch 50.

When it is desired to again use the iron, the operator grasps the handle or grip 22 in a normal manner and thereby naturally exerts downward pressure, causing the iron to move toward the ironing surface. This pressure brings the supporting member 39 substantially back to its inoperative position, as viewed in FIGURE 1, at the same time moving the top element 555 from its raised position, as viewed in FIGURE 2, to its lowered position, as viewed in FIGURE 3. In this manner the iron is used as a lever to bring the supporting member to its inoperative position. Very little pressure is necessary to effect this action, particularly since the iron is of substantial weight and tends to return itself to the position of FIGURE 1.

The simultaneous depressing of the top element 85 avoids reclosing the heating circuit through the switch 50 and heating element 49. This insures that this element 49 will not be reheated as long as the operator holds the handle 22 and thereby naturally presses the top element 85 down to the position of FIGURE 3'. This prevents re lease of the latch means '71 which, during the pushdown operation of the iron, has been returned to its holding position to the right of the roller 33, as shown most clearly in FIGURE 1.

Thus, it will be seen that at any time the iron is left unattended, said iron is automatically raised from the position of FIGURE 1 to that of FIGURE 2, without the necessity of any thought on the part of the user. When the user desires to again operate the iron, it is necessary to only grasp the handle in the usual way and exert slight downward pressure thereon to move it back to the position of FIGURE 1. It will thus be seen that there is no need to lift the iron at any time during the operation. The support mechanism requires for operation only a very small amount of force.

From the foregoing disclosure, it will be seen that I have devised a simple and almost fool-proof device for preventing undesired scorching or burning by a flatiron. The parts effecting the automatic operation of said iron are few and not complicated, whereby the chance of mechanical failure is minimized. There is nothing manual that has to be done to activate the safety device. The use of such an iron involves less effort than that of one in which the operator has to push on a button or lever to effect a movement of the iron to raised position.

Having now described my invention in detail in accordance with the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difficulty in making changes and modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from I the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A flatiron comprising a handle, lifting means for said flatiron movable between operative and inoperative positions, resilient means urging said lifting means to operative position, a bracket secured to said iron latch means slidably supported by said bracket and movable between operative position, where said lifting means is retained in inoperative position, and inoperative position where said lifting means is allowed to move to operative position, a latch spring acting on said latch means to bias it toward operative position, a heat-sensitive element with one end fixed to said bracket, means connecting the other end to said latch means, an electrical heating element, means mounting said heating element with respect to the'fiXed end of said heat-sensitive element, an electrical switch open when nearly horizontal, closed when tilted through a predetermined angle in only one direction and disposed in an electrical circuit with said heating element, and resilient means for, when an operator releases the handle, tilting said switch to closed position to energize said heating element and effect transfer of heat to and operation of said heat-sensitive element to move said latch'means to inoperative position against the action of said latch spring, and release said lifting means to effect raising of said iron.

2. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein there is a body and said handle is fixedly secured thereto.

3. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the latch means is slidable in said bracket.

4. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein there is a body, the handle is fixedly secured to said body, the bracket is carried by said handle, the latch means is slidable in said bracket, the latch spring is disposed in said bracket, the heat-sensitive element has one end fixed to said handle, and the resilient means for tilting the switch is mounted in said handle.

5. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the switch is of the mercury type with electrodes at one end, so that the switch is open when the mercury is spaced from said electrodes, but closed when it contacts them.

6. A fiatiron as recited in claim ll, wherein the lifting of the iron is effected by tilting it in one direction and the closing of the switch is effected by tilting it in the opposite direction, whereby the tilting of the iron neutralizes the tilt ng of said switch by its resilient means, so that it is then returned to the initial open position.

7. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the heatsensitive element is one of the thermostat-actuating types usable for controlling the circulation in automobile radiators.

8. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the handle is hollow and the heat-sensitive and heating elements are both housed in said handle.

9. A flatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the latch means has a straight portion terminating in its upper end in an angilarly disposed portion, and the heat-sensitive element is connected to act on said angularly disposed portion.

10. A fiatiron as recited in claim 1, wherein the switch is initially open, closed upon initial actuation of the heatsensitive element and then open again after the iron has been lifted.

11. A safety device, for a fiatiron which is provided with electrical heating means, lifting means movable between operative and inoperative positions, resilient means urging said lifting means to operative position, latch means movable between operative position, where it engages a portion of said lifting means and holds it in inoperative position and inoperative position where it releases said lifting means to effect lifting of said iron, a bracket secured to an adjacent wall portion of the iron and slidably supporting said latch means with respect thereto, means in said bracket for resiliently biasing said latch means toward its operative position, a heat-sensitive element disposed in a notch in said bracket, a clamp partially encircling and pressing a portion of reduced section of said heat-sensitive element against a wall portion of said bracket, a heating element secured to the lower end portion of said heat-sensitive element, means for automatically energizing said heating element in parallel with said electrical heating means when the iron is left unattended, said heat-sensitive element comprising a cupshaped member of durable metal, expansible plastic material enclosed therein, means connecting said cup-shaped member to an upper portion of the heat-sensitive element, a resilient element sealing an axial opening in said upper portion against the outflow of said plastic material, and

a metal actuator portion axially slidable in said opening 7 12. A safety device fora fiatiron which is provided with a handle and electrical heating means, lifting means for said iron movable between operative and inoperative positions, resilient means urging said lifting means to inoperative position, latch means movable between operative position, where it engages a portion of said lifting means and holds it in inoperative position, and inoperative position where it releases said lifting means to effect lifting of said iron, a bracket secured to the iron, said latch means being slidably supported by said bracket, means resiliently biasing said latch means toward its operative position, a heat-sensitive element, a clamp holding said heat-sensitive element on said bracket, a heating element secured to said heat-sensitive element, and means for automatically energizing said heating element when the iron is left unattended, said heat-sensitive element comprising a metal actuator portion longitudinally slidable and connected to said latch means for moving it to inoperative position when said heat-sensitive element is heated and expanded to a suilicient extent, thereby releasing said lifting means to raise the iron from its support.

13. A safety device as recited in claim 12, wherein the means for automatically energizing said heating element comprises an electrical switch open when nearly horizontal, closed when tilted through a predetermined angle in only one direction and disposed in an electrical circuit with said heating element, and resilient means'fon'when an operator releases the handle, tilting said'switch to closed position to energize said heating element and enect transfer of heat to and operation of said'heat-sensitive element to move latch means to inoperative position against the action of said latch spring, and release said lifting means to eifect raising of said iron.

References Cited by the. Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,296,913 9/42 Pagan 3879 2,602,247 7/52 Cochran 38-79 2,928,233 3/60 Kimm .a 323-68 X 3,050,885 8/62 W'hitfield 3879 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FLATIRON COMPRISING A HANDLE, LIFTING MEANS FOR SAID FLATIRON MOVABLE BETWEEN OPERATIVE AND INOPERATIVE POSITIONS, RESILIENT MEANS URGING SAID LIFTING MEANS TO OPERATIVE POSITION, A BRACKET SECURED TO SAID IRON LATCH MEANS SLIDABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID BRACKET AND MOVABLE BETWEEN OPERATIVE POSITION, WHERE SAID LIFTING MEANS IS RETAINED IN INOPERATIVE POSITION, AND INOPERATIVE POSITION WHERE SAID LIFTING MEANS IS ALLOWED TO MOVE TO OPERATIVE POSITION, A LATCH SPRING ACTING ON SAID LATCH MEANS TO BIAS IT TOWARD OPERATIVE POSITION, A HEAT-SENSITIVE ELEMENT WITH ONE END FIXED TO SAID BRACKET, MEANS CONNECTING THE OTHER END TO SAID LATCH MEANS, AN ELECTRICAL HEATING ELEMENT, MEANS MOUNTING SAID HEATING ELEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE FIXED END OF SAID HEAT-SENSITIVE ELEMENT, AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH OPEN WHEN NEARLY HORIZONTAL, CLOSED WHEN TILTED THROUGH A PREDETERMINED ANGLE IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION AND DISPOSED IN AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH SAID HEATING ELEMENT, AND RESILIENT MEANS FOR, WHEN AN OPERATOR RELEASES THE HANDLE, TILTING SAID SWITCH TO CLOSED POSITION TO ENERGIZE SAID HEATING ELEMENT AND EFFECT TRANSFER OF HEAT TO AND OPERATION OF SAID HEAT-SENSITIVE ELEMENT TO MOVE SAID LATCH MEANS TO INOPERATIVE POSITION AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID LATCH SPRING, AND RELEASE SAID LIFTING MEANS TO EFFECT RAISING OF SAID IRON. 